Knefel writes: "FBI attempts to infiltrate one of
the defense teams in a Guantanamo Bay trial related to the attacks of Sept. 11,
2001, has led to the second straight cancellation of pretrial hearings at the
controversial island prison, putting the case on pause until at least August of
this year."
FBI attempts to infiltrate one of the defense teams in a Guantánamo Bay trial related to the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, has led to the second straight cancellation of pretrial hearings. (photo: John Moore/Getty)
FBI Tried to Recruit Guantanamo Defense Team as
Informants
By
John Knefel, Al Jazeera America
06 June 15
BI attempts to infiltrate one of the defense teams in
a Guantánamo Bay trial related to the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, has led to the
second straight cancellation of pretrial hearings at the controversial island
prison, putting the case on pause until at least August of this year. The issue
has brought the legal system there, which is a mix of civilian and military
courts, to a standstill. As a result, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and the other four
accused 9/11 plotters haven't been in court since February.
The issue of intrusion by federal agents took center
stage in April of 2014, when an FBI employee approached and attempted to
recruit as an informant a member of the legal team of Ramzi bin al-Shibh, one
of the five co-defendants in the death-penalty case. After the surreptitious
questioning came to light, the military judge ordered an investigation into
whether any or all of the defense teams had been compromised, and if a conflict
of interest had been created as a result of the FBI's meddling.
Now, more than a decade after the defendants were
captured, a trial is nowhere in sight. By way of contrast, a civilian court
recently tried, convicted, and sentenced Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, one of the two
Boston Marathon bombers, within two years of the attack.
Barack Obama’s administration initially planned to try
the 9/11 case in a civilian court in New York City, but balked under political
pressure from Senate Republicans and New York City mayor Mike Bloomberg, and returned the proceedings to Guantánamo
Bay. That decision has resulted in a seemingly endless parade of
complications and delays.
“Each of these never-ending glitches — cancellations,
interruptions, administrative hurdles — at Guantánamo diminish even further the
viability of the military commissions,” says Karen Greenberg, Director of the
Center on National Security at Fordham University's School of Law.
The full story of what spurred the FBI investigation,
and the extent of the infiltration, remains classified. Publicly known, though,
is that in April 2014 the FBI approached the Defense Security
Officer on bin al-Shibh's team [PDF], to “create a relationship”
with him that he was forbidden from disclosing. The officer told his team about
the attempted recruitment, however. “Only because of this disclosure did we
learn of that another member of our team had been cooperating with the FBI
since November, 2013,” says James Harrington, civilian attorney for Ramzi bin
al-Shibh, in an email to Al Jazeera.
Since April 2014 incident, the Department of Justice
unit tasked with investigating the FBI intrusion, known as the Special Review
Team (SRT), has filed 13 classified reports, but only judge James Pohl, an Army
colonel, can see them. The back-and-forth litigation between the defense teams
and the prosecution has resulted in dozens of motions and counter-motions, and
whether the issue will be resolved by the August deadline remains unclear. One
proposal has been to sever the trial of bin al-Shibh — the defendant whose team
was directly questioned — from the other four defendants, a move the
prosecution has vigorously opposed.
A recently released court order [PDF] stated that the
independent inquiry into the FBI interference, carried out by the
SRT, needed more time to complete their investigation. Citing the review team
report, Judge James Pohl canceled court proceeding scheduled for this week. The
order was dated May 15, 2015, but only made public this week.
The personal fallout for members of bin al-Shibh's
defense team remain unclear as well. They've been told by the government that
none of them are under criminal investigation or at risk of losing their
security clearance, which many of them depend on for work. “Despite these
representations, this has been a traumatic experience for many members of the
team,” says Harrington. “Some are career military members or contract employees
who are dependent on their security clearances for their livelihood. Even
though they had nothing to do with the events that started this process, it has
taken a severe toll on them.”
Attorneys on other defense teams see this latest issue
as one example in a long list of attempts by the government to shape the
outcome of the trial. “The FBI’s infiltration of defense teams is just one more
example in a long list of shameful government attempts to manipulate and
control the course and outcome of what is supposed to be a fair and transparent
prosecution,” says Walter Ruiz, attorney for Mustafa Hawsawi.
When asked if the continuing delays have frustrated or
effected the government's case in any way, a military spokesperson responded
only by stating the facts of the cancellation. “Based on the most recent
classified submission by the SRT, the military judge determined it necessary
and appropriate to cancel the June session,” says Lt. Col. Myles B. Caggins
III, a Defense Department spokesman for military commissions.
Even when, or if, this particular issue is resolved,
there is still a litany of questions that have to be answered before the case
can go to trial. “The FBI infiltration is just one of the intrusions plaguing
the 9/11 case,” says James Connell, who represents co-defendant Amar
al-Baluchi. “Eight months after the FBI infiltration came to light, a former
CIA interpreter showed up in the courtroom as a defense linguist. It’s like a
Scooby Doo ending — who is going to pull off their mask next?”
© 2015 Reader Supported News
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